Countdown to immigration vote begins

The Senate is rushing to the finish line on the Gang of Eight bill, setting up a key vote Monday that could clear the way to final passage of the immigration overhaul by the end of next week.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Friday that his chamber will hold a procedural vote Monday at 5:30 p.m. on the border-security agreement crafted by Republican Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee and John Hoeven of North Dakota.

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The timing meets a goal long set by Senate Democratic leaders to finish working on the bill — a significant rewrite of the nation’s immigration laws — before the July 4 recess. And the compromise from Corker and Hoeven, a so-called “Gang of Two,” pushes the Gang of Eight closer to a supermajority of votes for its bill.

Negotiators have predicted that as many as 15 Senate Republicans may sign on to the overall bill, but that remains a premature figure.

“We’re picking up more supporters each day,” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters Friday. “We’re not at 70 yet. But we’re gaining support and this amendment helps a great deal.”

The real question mark comes in the GOP-led House, where many Republicans have shown little appetite for the Gang of Eight bill and leadership has been unable to gain conservative support on bipartisan measures such as the farm bill, which failed Thursday.

The Senate is expected to pass the Corker-Hoeven deal, which is a compromise centered around a significant increase in security measures along the United States-Mexico border. It includes an additional 20,000 border-patrol agents, $3.2 billion in high-tech surveillance equipment, and a requirement to complete 700 miles of fencing along the border.

The overall bill includes a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants, while modernizing the nation’s legal immigration system and adding enforcement measures in order to deter future illegal immigration into the United States.

Though the border security component is the centerpiece of the Corker-Hoeven deal, the agreement includes a slew of sweeteners for senators considered swing votes for the overall bill.

For instance, Nevada Sen. Dean Heller, long considered a likely Republican supporter of immigration reform, sought proposals to require the Department of Homeland Security to spell out how it will implement a biometric entry-exit system at the 10 busiest airports and calls on DHS figure out how to cut wait times at airports with the most international travelers.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) also announced Friday that he is co-sponsoring the Corker-Hoeven agreement. He has wanted to toughen back taxes and benefit provisions for immigrants in the overall bill, and the compromise adopts parts of his amendments.